Athens Must-Dos

Enchanting time warp of whitewashed alleys and pastel cottages, created by migrant workers from Anafi island, who built the capital of newly independent Greece in 1841. “Houses are practically built into the sacred rock of the Acropolis, yet it feels like a Cycladic island village.”—Theodora Mantzaris, design director, 2004 Athens Summer Olympic Games. Between Lysicrates Monument and Kanellopoulos Museum, Plaka.

“Symbolizes ancient Hellenism with a touch of ancestor worship; it’s also the rock to which Greeks have clung throughout their stormy history and in which each generation and individual finds its own significance.”—Sofka Zinovieff, author, Eurydice Street: A Place in Athens. Go early morning or evening to avoid the crowds. Ticket booth above Dionysiou Areopagitou and Apostolou Pavlou; tel. 30 210 321 4172-3; fee. http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/3/eh351.jsp?obj_id=2384

Xippas Gallery

Parisian gallerist Renos Xippas has set up shop in a 1960s apartment block with a large Greek spice dealer in the basement. “The whiff of curry follows you to the second floor, where Athens’ most avant-garde gallery is hidden.”—Kimon Frangakis. Sophokleous 53D; tel. 30 210 331 9333. www.xippas.com